The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge also known as Pearl Bridge, is a suspension bridge in Japan that crosses the Akashi Strait; it links Maiko in Kobe and Iwaya on Awaji Island as part of the Honsh?-Shikoku Highway. It is the longest suspension bridge in the world to date, as measured by the length of its center span 1,991 metres (6,532 ft), substantially longer than the second longest suspension bridge, the Danish Great Belt Bridge. Its total length is 3,911 metres (12,831 ft). It was planned to be one of three Honsh?-Shikoku connecting bridges, annexing two borders of the Inland Sea.

A construction agreement signed on July 8, 1981 led to construction beginning the next year. The cornerstone was laid on November 11, 1982 by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa of Bahrain and went until 1986, when the combination of several bridges and dams was completed. The causeway officially opened for use on November 25, 1986.

The project, completely financed by Saudi Arabian money, cost a total of US$1.2 billion and was contracted out to the Ballast Nedam Group based in the Netherlands. The four-lane road (2x12.3 metres (40 ft)) is 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) long. Five bridges with an overall length of 12,430 metres (40,781 ft) were built using 350,000 cubic metres (460,000 yd³) of concrete along with 147,000 metric tons of reinforced steel.

The causeway consists of three parts, a combination of three bridges from Khobar to the artificial island on the Saudi Arabia - Bahrain border, including the longest bridge, at 5,194 metres (17,041 ft) long, a bridge from the artificial island to Umm al-Na'san island and another bridge from Umm al-Na'san island to the main island of Bahrain.

MILLAU, France - Piercing the sky above the verdant hills of southern France, a roadway bridge hailed as the tallest in the world was officially inaugurated Tuesday.

Celebrated as a work of art and an object of French national pride, the Millau bridge will enable motorists to take a drive through the sky — 891 feet above the Tarn River valley for 1.6-mile stretch through France’s Massif Central mountains.

Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the steel-and-concrete bridge with its streamlined diagonal suspension cables rests on seven pillars — the tallest measuring 1,122 feet, making it 53 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower.

The bridge, which has an airy and fluid appearance, was designed to have the “delicacy of a butterfly,” Foster said in an interview with regional daily newspaper Midi Libre.

“A work of man must fuse with nature. The pillars had to look almost organic, like they had grown from the earth,” said Foster, who also designed London’s Millennium Bridge.

Colorado’s Royal Gorge Bridge, towering 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River, is the world’s tallest suspension bridge — but it is designed for pedestrians. The Kochertal viaduct in Germany was the highest roadway, at 607 feet, officials said.

I might be wrong, but I think King Fahad Causeway is not a continuous bridge 26 KM long. It regular points it is supported by claimed land areas out of sea. So basically there are several pieces of claimed land areas that join the sections of causeway.

I live in Al-Khobar, KSA from where this bridge originates. Have seen this bridge (never crossed it though). Kingdom of Bahrain is faintly visible from here.